Values and Behaviour Alignment (Bull’s-Eye Values Survey)
Introduction
The Bull’s-Eye Values Survey (BEVS) is a visual, self-assessment tool developed by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
It helps individuals map the gap between:
- What they value (their chosen life/leadership directions), and
- How consistently they act in line with those values.
It uses a simple target diagram with 4 quadrants:
- Work/Education
- Relationships
- Personal Growth/Health
- Leisure
Inside each quadrant, the bull’s-eye represents the ideal situation, while the outer rings represent being off track.
The person:
- Identifies important values in each life domain.
- Rates how aligned their current behaviour is with those values (by placing an “X” on the bullseye diagram).
- Describes specific actions that would move them closer to the centre, ie identify the obstacles to achieving what you want to and how you going to handle the obstacles by developing an action plan.
It is essentially a values–behaviour alignment map (see below).
The BEVS works because it:
- Externalises values (makes the invisible visible)
- Makes misalignment obvious (gaps become clear at a glance)
- Creates agency (encourages small, value-aligned actions)
- Reduces avoidance (helps people work through discomfort while staying committed to values)
- Supports intrinsic motivation (because values drive behaviour more consistently than goals alone.)
Application to Change Management
A. Why Values Matter in Change
During organisational change, people often:
- Feel uncertainty
- Fear loss (security, competence, relationships, etc)
- Experience conflict between existing habits and new expectations
- Follow compliance temporarily but disengage later.
Values act as an anchor—they provide meaning, purpose and a reason to sustain behaviours beyond compliance.
The Bull’s-Eye Values Survey helps employees connect personal meaning with organisational change.
(main source: Russ Harris, 2019)